Toll in deadly Shanghai building collapse rises to 10

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SHANGHAI, May 17, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The death toll in the collapse of a
Shanghai commercial building that was undergoing renovation rose to 10
overnight after three more victims were added to the grim tally, the city
government said Friday.

About half of the low-rise building collapsed around midday on Thursday,
crushing construction workers under piles of toppled concrete pillars and
shattered wooden beams.

Authorities said 25 people had been found in the rubble, 10 of whom had
succumbed to their injuries.

The latest announcement on a city government social media account did not
make clear whether any others were still missing, but added that search and
rescue work was “basically finished.”

Medical personnel were making “all-out efforts” to treat the injured, the
announcement said.

Rescue personnel pulled bloodied and dust-coated workers out from the
rubble throughout Thursday afternoon and evening, according to AFP
journalists at the scene.

The building had previously been used as a dealership for Mercedes-Benz
cars, the national emergency ministry has said.

But the property had changed hands and was being redeveloped as a mixed-use
arts and innovation site, according to Chinese media reports.

China is no stranger to building collapses and deadly construction
accidents, which are typically blamed on the country’s rapid growth leading
to corner-cutting by builders and the widespread flouting of safety rules.

At least 20 people were killed in 2016 when a series of crudely-constructed
multi-storey buildings packed with migrant workers collapsed in the eastern
city of Wenzhou.